Research reports on soil during the years from 1906 to 2012 have been analyzed to understand the role and pattern of soil research in agriculture. The number of research reports in relation with the key word of soils were 2,211 cases and classified in accordance with the criteria of research area, research subject, and research place of report papers. During the 40 years from 1906 to 1946, research work on soil chemistry was reached 62%, highest in the research area. In the case of research subject, research reports on soil fertility and soil nutrients was highest as 42.2%, and the next subject on soil salt and desalinization was about 19.5%. Research places were in the order of paddy as 34.1%, upland as 23.7%, and reclaimed soil as 22.5%. From 1953 to 2012 during 60 years, in the research area report papers were mainly concentrated on chemistry area as 32% and the next was physics as 26%, and environment as 12%. In the case of research subject during the same period, nutrient management report was reached 21.1%, and soil improvement on chemical and physical properties for optimum crop growth was 11.9%. Soil survey and data base establishment report was 8.6%. Research place were in the order of upland as 34.9%, paddy as 25.7%, and vinyl house as 12.5%, which showed reversed pattern compared to that of before 40 years.

The monitoring of chemical dynamic changes in controlled horticultural lands is very important for agricultural sustainability. Field monitoring was performed to evaluate the soil chemical properties of 200 controlled horticultural soil samples in Gyeongnam province every 4 years from 2000 to 2012. Soil chemical properties such as pH, amount of organic matter, available phosphate, nitrate nitrogen, and exchangeable potassium, calcium, magnesium, and sodium were analyzed. The amount of exchangeable calcium and soil pH were significantly higher in 2012 than in 2000. In 2012, the frequency distribution for values of pH, organic matter, available phosphate, and exchangeable potassium, calcium, and magnesium that were within the optimum range was 16.0%, 22.5%, 11.5%, 3.5%, 2.5%, and 5.0%, respectively. Especially, available phosphate and exchangeable calcium were excess level with portions of 76.0% and 96.5%, respectively. These results indicated that a balanced management of soil chemical properties can reduce the amount of fertilizer applied for sustainable agriculture in controlled horticultural lands.

The Average daily PET (Potential evapotranspiration), evaluated based on the last 30 years meteorological data and the lysimeter experiment carried out by RDA during 11 years, of 9 regions in Korea for the tomato cultivated in greenhouse, was . Two kinds of water saving irrigation standard (WSIS), deficit irrigation standard (DIS) and partial root-zone drying irrigation standard (PRDIS) that include the irrigation interval and the amount of irrigation water according to the region, soil texture and growing stage, were established. According to the DIS and PRDIS, the cultivator can save water up to 29.2% and 53.7%, respectively, for tomato cultivation in greenhouse compared to the full irrigation standard (FIS) which established in 1999. WSIS can be used easily by the cultivator without complicate procedures such as soil sampling and measurement of soil water status by expensive sensors. But the cultivator should care about irrigation method such as PRDI (partial root-zone drying irrigation) without yield decrease.

Many organic fruit growers adopt cover cropping in their orchards to improve soil properties. A field experiment was conducted to determine the effects of cutting frequency of cover crop (CF) and liquid manure application (LM) on green manure production (GMP) and returnable nutrient content (RNC) in pear orchard. The combined effects of CF and LM were tested at two levels, respectively, with liquid manure () and without liquid manure (). After that, cover crops were cut once () and three times () in rye, and twice () and four times () in hairy vetch. The result showed that main factors related to green manure production were different depending on the species. In rye, LM was more effective in increasing the dry weight of cover crop and RNC than CF. In contrast, the parameters were more affected by CF rather than LM in hairy vetch. Thus, it is suggested that different management technique is needed depending on the cover crop species in order to maximize the green manure production in pear orchard.

This survey was conducted to obtain basic data about organic matter such as BOD (Biochemical Oxygen Demand), COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand), DOC (Dissolved Organic Carbon) and TOC (Total Organic Carbon) in agricultural water in Gyeongnam province. BOD and COD are currently used for water quality indices, but adoption of TOC is being suggested. The surface water samples were collected at 39 locations in Gyeongnam province in April, July and October. Average concentrations of BOD, COD, DOC and TOC were 1.6, 3.3, 5.3 and , respectively. In July, average concentrations of BOD and COD were 2.4 and , respectively, showing these values were higher than other months. Average concentrations of TOC in April, July and October were 4.8, 7.4 and , respectively. This suggested that the highest value of TOC was in July. Average decomposition efficiencies for BOD-C/TOC and COD-C/TOC were 11.4 and 23.9%, respectively. Correlation coefficient of TOC and DOC was higher by 0.995, whereas that of TOC and COD was lower by 0.763. Especially, TOC and DOC were highly related than others.

Soil compaction is affected by soil texture, organic matter (OM), strength (ST) and soil moisture, which is difficult to understand the degree and effects of related factors. The purpose of the study is to assess the impact of them on the compaction with bulk density (BD). The analysis was conducted with data collected from national-wide monitoring sites including 105 upland soils, 246 orchard soils, and 408 paddy soils between 2009 and 2012. The distributions of soil physical properties were measured. The correlation and multi linear regression analysis were performed between soil physical properties using SAS. The regression equation of BD(y) includes ST, gravitational water contents (GWC), and OM as variables commonly, having additional factors, clay content and sand content in paddy soil and upland soil for only subsoil (p<0.001). Our results show that the BD could be explained about 40~50% by various physical properties. The regression was mainly determined by ST in orchard and upland soil and by the GWC in paddy soil. To mitigate soil compaction, it is important to maintain the proper level of OM in upland soil and to consider the moisture condition with soil texture in paddy soil when making work plan. Furthermore, it would be recommended the management criteria classified by soil texture for the paddy soils.

The objectives of this study were to estimate the potential biomass yield by using the biomass conversion index and evaluate the potential energy production by using the energy conversion index of biomass. Estimating the total biomass yield in Korea showed 9,646.3 thousand tons produced in 2012. Subsequent evaluation of the potential energy production using the estimated biomass yield in 2012 indicated that the calorific values were varied from 3,800 to 4,500 kcal for crop- and from 4,100 to 4,300 kcal for woody-based biomass, respectively. Among the examined biomass materials, the pruned branch of a nut tree appeared to be the greatest in bio-energy production showing 6,300 kcal in calorific value. Total potential energy production from agricultural by-products was estimated approximately at 3,966,000 TOE. Among the agricultural by-products examined, rice straw showed the greatest energy production potential being at 2,321,000 TOE. Furthermore, it might contribute to establishing the countermeasures of biomass utility in agricultural sector based on regional distribution chart of the potential biomass and energy yields in Korea.

A suitable supply of mineral elements into shoot via a root system from growth media makes plants favorable growth and yield. The shortage or surplus of minerals directly affects overall physiological reactions to plants and, especially, strongly influences carbohydrate metabolism as a primary response. We have studied mineral uptake and synthesis and translocation of soluble carbohydrates in N, P or K-deficient tomato plants, and examined the interaction between soluble carbohydrates and mineral elements. Four-weeks-old tomato plants were grown in a hydroponic growth container adjusted with suboptimal N ( and ), P (), and K () for 30 days. The deficiency of specific mineral element led to a significant decrease in its concentration and affected the concentration of other elements with increasing treatment period. The appearance of the reduction, however, differed slightly between elements. The ratios of N uptake of each treatment to that in NPK sufficient tomato shoots were 4 (N deficient), 50 (P deficient), and 50% (K deficient). The P uptake ratios were 21 (N deficient), 19 (P deficient), and 28% (K deficient) and K uptake ratios were 11 (N deficient), 46 (P deficient), and 7% (K deficient). The deficiency of mineral elements also influenced on carbohydrate metabolism; soluble sugar and starch was substantially enhanced, especially in N or K deficiency. In conclusion, mineral deficiency leads to an adverse carbohydrate metabolism such as immoderate accumulation and restricted translocation as well as reduced mineral uptake and thus results in the reduced plant growth.

This study was conducted to develop a model to estimate crop leaf surface temperature. The results were as following; A definition for the daily time based on elapsed time from the midnight (00:00) as "E&E time" with the unit of Kmin. was suggested. The model to estimate the scaled temperature () of crop leaf surface temperature by scale factor () according to the "E&E time : Kmin."(X) was developed as eq. (1) (2) , Tx : Daily leaf temperature, Tm : Daily maximum leaf temperature, Tn : Daily minimum leaf temperature. Relative sensitivity of the measured temperature compared to the estimated temperature of red pepper, soybean and persimmon was 1.078, 1.033 and 0.973, respectively.

Crop development and nutrient availability are strongly influenced by soil salinity levels. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of rice straw and nitrogen (N) fertilizer for silage barley under various soil salinity levels at Saemangeum reclaimed tidal land. Three levels of rice straw (0, 2.5, 5.0 ton rice straw ) and N (0, 150, 225 kg N ) were applied at 0.04, 0.23, 0.35% soil salinity levels. Biomass yield of silage barley was influenced by the interactions between rice straw application and N fertilization. Although there was no single effect of rice straw application on biomass yield, it was significantly increased with N application and a rice straw application of 5.0 ton . Sodium content in silage barley was significantly lower at 0.04% salinity level, and but it was statistically increased with increasing soil salinity levels. Forage qualities such as total digestible nutrients and relative feed value of silage barley were significantly higher with N application at 0.04% salinity level, but there was no effect of rice straw application. Soil organic matter content was increased with N and rice straw application regardless of soil salinity level. The results of this study showed that the effect of rice straw and N fertilization on silage barley was influenced by soil salinity levels, which indicates that the management practice of silage barley at Saemangeum reclaimed tidal land should consider soil salinity levels.

Information on the effective application method of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) inoculum is still inadequate. This work was performed to assess two AMF inoculation methods (dispersed and proximate) on root colonization of sorghum-sudangrass hybrid (Sorghum bicolor L.). In dispersed inoculation method, spores were inoculated in 2 kg pots of soil in which 5 day-old seedlings were transplanted and maintained for 50 days. In the proximate inoculation method, spores were first introduced in 500 mL pots where seeds were sown. After 10 days, the seedlings with the 500 mL soil were transferred to 2 kg pots without disturbing the contents. After 50 days of growth, root colonization and arbuscule abundance significantly increased (over 100%) in proximate method of inoculation. Moreover, sorghum-sudangrass hybrid had higher shoot growth (182.5 cm) and Glomalin related soil protein (GRSP) production in proximate method. Nutrient accumulation, particularly total nitrogen (82.61 mg ), was also found to be higher in proximate method of inoculation. Our results demonstrate that the proximate method of inoculation may improve the early stage mycorrhizal symbiosis and inoculum performance in Saemangeum reclaimed soil.

Although sorghum residue production was estimated to be , most sorghum straw was used to be burnt or removed after harvest. This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of the incorporation of manured sorghum residues on soil physical properties from 2010 to 2012 in the converted paddy field. Five treatment with 3 replication consisted of control, inorganic fertilizer (NPK), manured residues, sorghum stover and sawdust manure. The incorporation level of organic source was without inorganic fertilizer NPK. The investigated physical parameters were bulk density (BD), porosity, water stability aggregate (WSA), water infiltration rater (WIR), penetration resistance (PR) and soil water retention characteristics (WRC) with soil depth. The incorporation of manured sorghum residues improved WIR significantly over inorganic fertilizer (NPK), sorghum residues and sawdust manure. The BD by incorporating with manured residues on sorghum was reduced significantly with crop residue over plot of NPK and sawdust. Significant increase in WSA was observed with stubble incorporation alone or manured sorghum residues. Soil WRC were significantly enhanced with manured sorghum residue incorporated without NPK. The average PR at 0~15 cm was 0.54 MPa for manured sorghum residues. For sawdust manure plot it was 0.42 MPa, for Sawdust manure plot 0.39 MPa and for NPK plot 0.54 MPa.

Recently, special attention has been given to acid rain and its problem to environment such as acid precipitation and air pollution in East Asia. In the present study, rainwater samples were collected from Apr to Nov in 2012. The samples were chemically characterized for the assessment of emission sources. Suwon and Yeoju regions, typical agricultural areas in South Korea, were chosen for study sites. Ion composition and cation-affected neutralization were determined to evaluate the contribution of cations to the acidity of rainwater. Ion and electrical conductivity between the measured and the estimated showed high correlation. The cations observed in Suwon and Yeoju were > > > > > and > > > > , respectively. The anions of all sites were > > . While the amounts of sulfate, one of the major dissolved components of rainwater, were 77.6 and 75.6 ueq in Suwon and Yeoju, the ones of NSS- (Non-Sea Salt sulfate) were 83 and 82% in Suwon and Yeoju, respectively. The comparison of observed pH values () with the theoretical pH values () showed that the neutralization of rain water considerably went along during the study periods. The highest amounts of rainfall throughout the year in Suwon and Yeoju were 572.3 and 484.6 mm in July, and its corresponding nitrogen loadings in Suwon and Yeoju were 5.28 and 3.50 kg , respectively. The major ion contents for crop growth with , , and were 51.7, 5.2, 11.8 and 1.8 kg in Suwon and 34.2, 4.0, 4.2 and 1.1 kg in Yeoju.

Soil organic carbon (SOC) has the potential to promote the soil quality for sustainability and mitigation of global warming. There is little information on organic carbon composition despite of having resistance of carbon degradation in soil. In this study, to understand the effect of volcanic ash on organic carbon composition and quantity in soil, we investigated characteristics of volcanic soil and compared organic carbon composition of soil and humic extract by using -CPMAS-NMR spectra under soil profiles of Namweon series in Jeju. SOC contents of inner soil profiles were 134.8, 101.3, and 27.4 g C at the layer of depth 10-20, 70-80 and 90-100 cm, respectively. These layers were significantly different to soil pH, oxalate Al contents, and soil moisture contents. Alkyl C/O-alkyl C ratio in soil was higher than that of humic extracts, which was decreased below soil depth. Aromaticity of soil and humic extract was ranged from 29-38 and 24-32%, which was highest at the humic extract of 70-80 cm in soil depth. These results indicate that the changes of SOC in volcanic ash soil resulted from alteration of organic composition by pyrolysis and stability of organic carbon by allophane in volcanic ash soil.

Organic grape was generally produced in rainshield or plastic greenhouse culture while most of fruits were produced in open field. But little attention has been given to soil properties with different culture facilities in organic grape cultivation. This study was conducted to investigate soil physico-chemical properties of organic grapes farms with different culture facilities and soil management practices. Organic fertilizer was main resource to manage soil at organic grapes farms. Organic grapes farms were applied with total amount of organic fertilizer at one time, either at basal or additional fertilization, whereas conventional grapes farms applied with split fertilization. Bulk density and penetration resistance of soil were lower at both rainshield and green manure-applied plastic greenhouse cultures than those at clean plastic greenhouse culture. Especially, in plastic greenhouse, sod culture with natural weed after green manure application was more effective than general sod culture in improving physical properties of the rhizosphere. The contents of organic matter, available phosphate and exchangeable potassium tended to increase in the soils applied with green manure, and the difference of soil chemical properties were significant between rainshield and plastic greenhouse cultures. The optimum soil management was required in plastic greenhouse because pH, available phosphate and exchangeable cations reached over optimum range. Consequently, the ground cover management is the key factor to affect the chemical properties as well as soil physical properties extensively in plastic greenhouse. It is found that sod culture with natural weed after green manure application resulted in enhancement of utilization efficiency of nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potassium in soil in comparison with general sod culture.